CENTRIFUGAL PUMPS

HANDBOOK

Suction Side Problems Gas Entrainment

BY: JAMES H. INGRAM

ENTRAINMENT VERSUS CAVITATION

The audible pump noise from
noncondensable entrained gas will
produce a crackling similar to cavitation or impeller recirculation.
However, cavitation is produced by a
vapor phase of the liquid which is
condensable, while noncondensable
entrained gas must enter and exit the
pump with the liquid stream.
To test for gas entrainment over
mild cavitation, run the pump back
upon the curve by slowly closing the
discharge valve. The noise will diminish if it originated from cavitation and
the pump is not prone to suction recirculation. In contrast, with entrained
gas, continued performance at this
portion of the curve will choke off or
gas-bind the pump, causing unusually
quiet operation or low flow.

A pump in this gas bound state,

will not re-prime itself, and the gas,
with some portion of the liquid, must
be vented for a restart against a discharge head. The effort to restart a
gas bound impeller depends on

GAS BOUND IMPELLERS

As a process stream containing

entrained gas nears the impeller, the
liquid pre-rotating from the impeller
tends to centrifuge the gas from the
process stream. Gas not passing into
the impeller accumulates near the impeller
FIGURE 1. ENCLOSED IMPELLER-ENTRAINED
eye. As entrained gas
GAS HANDLING PERFORMANCE
flow continues to increase, the accumulatThe LaBour Company, Inc. Effect on head and capacity of
ing groups of bubbles
varying quantities of air with water being pumped.
are pulled through the
impeller into the dis160
charge vane area where
NO AIR
HEAD
they initiate a fall in
2%
140
flow performance. The
bubble choking effect at
the impeller eye pro5%
120
duces a further reduction of Net Positive
8%
100
Suction Head Available
(NPSHA). At this stage
long term damage to the
80
10%
pump from handling
12%
entrained gases is gener60
ally negligible when
15%
compared with the
50
damage due to cavita0
200 400 600 800 1000 1200
tion. If the process
Capacity
in U.S. Gallons per Minute
stream gas volume
increases, however, furSize: no. 55; Type: SQ. Speed: 1750
ther bubble build-up
Impeller Diameter: 11
will occur, blocking off
Air quantities given are in terms of free air at atmospheric
the impeller eye and
pressure referred to % of total volume of fluid being handled.
stopping flow (Ref. 1).
Head in Feet

ultiple symptoms associated

with noncondensable suction side gas entrainment,
such as loss of pump head,
noisy operation, and erratic performance, often mislead the pump operator. As a result, entrained gas is
generally diagnosed by eliminating
other possible sources of performance
problems. To adequately control gas
entrainment a user should first be
aware of systems most likely to produce gas, and then employ methods
or designs to eliminate entrainment
into these pumping systems.

The Pump Handbook Series

87

discusses open impeller pump modifications.)

FIGURE 2. OPEN IMPELLER-ENTRAINED GAS HANDLING PERFORMANCE

Goulds Pumps, Inc. Approximate Characteristic Curves of Centrifugal Pump

SYSTEMS PRODUCING
ENTRAINED GAS

350

The most common conditions or

mechanisms for introducing gas into
the suction line are:
1. Vortexing

200
150

250

Efficiency %

250
Brake Horse Power (Bhp)

Head in Feet

300

80
70
60
50

Bhp@ sp gr=1.0

200

0%
2%
4%
6%
0%
2%
4%
6%
0%
6%

Previously flashed process

liquid conveying flashed gas
into the suction piping.

3.

Injection of gas, which does not

go into solution, into the
pumpage.

4.

Vacuum systems, valves, seals,

flanges, or other equipment in a
suction lift application allowing
air to leak into the pumpage
stream.

5.

Gas evolution from an incomplete or gas producing chemical

reaction.

150

500

1000 1500 2000 2500

Gallons per Minute

3000

If a particular application produces entrained gas or has the potential to do so, the best solution is to
eliminate as much entrainment as
possible by applying corrective pump
system design and/or a gas handling
pump. If liquid gas mixing is desired,
employ a static mixer on the dis-

Size: 6x8-18 Speed: 1780 rpm Impeller Diameter: 17 1/4

impeller position, type and valving

arrangement, among other variables.
Degassing is easier to accomplish
with a variable speed driver, such as
a steam turbine, than with a constant
speed electric motor drive. In addition, a recycle line to the suction vessel vapor space is often an effective
method for degassing an impeller,
since with this arrangement the
pump is not required to work against
a discharge head. (Ref. 1 describes
methods for venting gas on modified
pumps that are gas bound.)
As a rule, if the probability of
entrained gas exists from a chemical
reaction, the inlet piping design
should incorporate a means to vent
the vapor back to the suction vessels
vapor space or to some other source.

EFFECTS OF ENTRAINED GAS ON

PUMP PERFORMANCE
Figures 1 and 2 illustrate the
effect of entrained gas on a LaBour
enclosed impeller and a Goulds
paper stock open impeller. As illustrated by the figures, 2% entrained
gas does not produce a significant
head curve drop. Note that while the
LaBour impeller experiences a 22%

88

2.

head loss at 5% gas volume, the

Goulds open impeller experiences a
12% head loss at this volume. Some
open impeller paper stock designs
can actually handle
up to 10% entrained
FIGURE 3. DEVELOPMENT OF A VORTEX
gas because clearance between the
case and impeller
vanes allows more
turbulence in the
(a)
process fluid, which
tends to break up
gas accumulation
more efficiently
than an enclosed
impeller with wear
rings. In addition,
other designs, such
(d)
as a recessed im(b)
peller pump, may
A. Incoherent surface swirl
handle up to 18%
entrained gas. In
B. Surface dimple with coherent
fact, most standard
surface swirl
centrifugal pumps
handle up to 3%
C. Vortex pulling air bubbles to
entrained gas volintake
ume at suction conditions
without
D. Fully developed vortex with air
AIR
difficulty. (Ref. 2
core to nozzle outlet
(c)

The Pump Handbook Series

FIGURE 4. HAT TYPE VORTEX BREAKER

charge of the pump. In addition, an

anticipated drop in pump head due to
an entrained gas situation may be offset by oversizing the impeller.
Of the five aforementioned
mechanisms, vortexing is the most
common source of entrained gas.
Therefore, a user should be especially
cautious employing mechanical
equipment, such as tangential flash
gas separators and column bottoms
re-boilers, likely to produce a strong
vortex.

VORTEX BREAKER DESIGN

The extent of gas entrainment in
the pumped fluid as the result of
vortex formation depends on the
strength of the vortex, the submergence to pump suction outlet, and
the liquid velocity in the pump suction nozzle outlet. Vortices form not
only through gravity draining vessel
applications, but also in steady state
draining vessels, and in vessels
under pressure or with submerged
pump suction inlets. Vortex formation follows conservation of angular
momentum. As fluid moves toward
the vessel outlet, the tangential
velocity component in the fluid
increases as the radius from the outlet decreases. Figure 3 shows various
stages of vortex development. The
first phase is a surface dimple. This
dimple must sense a high enough
exit velocity to extend from the surface and form a vortex. (For experimental observations regarding
vortex formation see Refs. 3, 4.)
The most effective method to

FIGURE 5. CROSS TYPE VORTEX BREAKER

eliminate entrained gas in pump

suction piping is to prevent vortex
formation either by avoiding vortex
introducing mechanisms or by employing an appropriate vortex breaker at the vessel outlet. A hat type
vortex breaker, illustrated in Figure
4, covers the vessel outlet nozzle to
reduce the effective outlet velocity.
This design doesnt allow a vortex to
stabilize because the fluid surface
senses only the annular velocity at
the hat outside diameter (OD). In
addition, the vanes supporting the
hat introduce a shear in the vicinity
of the outlet to further inhibit vortex
formation. An annular velocity of
1/2 ft/sec at the hat OD produces a
viable solution. Variations in hat
diameters from 4d to 5d and hat
annular openings of d/2 to d/3 are
acceptable when annular velocity criteria are met. Annular design velocities of more than 1 ft/sec are not
recommended.
Cross type breakers, installed
above or inserted in vessel nozzle outlets as shown in Figure 5, work for
some applications by providing additional shear to inhibit a mild vortex
from feeding gas into a nozzle outlet
(providing enough submergence is
available). However, this design will
not stop a strong vortex and will
decrease NPSHA. A user should be
aware of these limitations.

COLUMN VORTEXING
If a column draw-off pump is
erratic and/or nearly uncontrollable, a
vortex may be feeding gas into the

The Pump Handbook Series

draw-off nozzle of the pump as illustrated by Figure 6a.

It may be difficult to understand
how a pump with 60 ft of vertical
suction could be affected by entrained gas, but in this real case
example Murphys law applied twice.
First, since the pump system in question has a NPSHA greater than 50 ft,
the piping designer employed a smaller suction pipe with a liquid velocity
of 10 ft/sec. Second, the column
draw-off nozzle was sized according
to normal fluid velocity practice. As a
result, the tray liquid had an exit
velocity of 5 ft/sec with a liquid level
6-in. above the top of the draw-off
nozzle and a vortex formed, feeding
gas into the draw-off nozzle.
As in the above example, due to a
lack of proper submergence, gas is carried into the pump suction piping as a
high liquid downward velocity exceeds
the upward velocity of a gas bubble.
Many draw-off vortexing problems may be eliminated by proper
pump system design or by one of two
vortex breaker designs illustrated by
Figures 6b and c. The selection of the
breaker design may depend on the
downcomer arrangement and space
limitations. The most effective vortex
breaker is the slotted pipe design
shown in Figure 6c.
Application of these corrective
pump systems designs or installation of an appropriate gas handling
pump can solve suction side gas
entrainment problems, resulting in a
smoother process operation.

89

FIGURE 6. DESIGN MODIFICATIONS FOR A SYSTEM EXHIBITING A LACK OF

ADEQUATE SUBMERGENCE AND PROHIBITIVELY HIGH EXIT VELOCITY
DOWNSPOUT OR
DOWNCOMER FROM
TRAY ABOVE

BUBBLE CAP

REFERENCES
1.

Doolin, John H., Centrifugal

Pumps and Entrained-Air Problem,
Chemical Engineering, pp.103-106
(1963)

2.

Cappellino, C.A., Roll, R. and

Wilson, George, Centrifugal
Pump Design Considerations and
Application Guidelines for
Pumping Liquids with Entrained
Gas, 9th Texas A&M Pump
Symposium 1992

3.

Patterson, F.M., Vortexing can

be Prevented in Process Vessels
and Tanks, Oil and Gas Journal,
pp. 118-120 (1969)

4.

Patterson, F.M., and Springer, E.K.,

Experimental Investigation of
Critical Submergence for Vortexing
in a Vertical Cylinder Tank,
ASME Paper 69-FE-49 (1969)

5.

Kern, Robert, How to Design

Piping for Pump Suction Conditions, Chemical Engineering,
pp.119-126 (1975)

10

10/sec.
Figure 6a. Tray take off nozzle with vortex from lack of correct
submergence and too high exit velocity.
EXTEND PLATE FROM
VESSEL WALL.
CHECK VELOCITY
AT PLATE
EDGE 1/2/sec.

James H. Ingram is an Engineering

Technologist with Sterling Chemicals in
Texas City.

1/2/sec.

Figure 6b. Plate extension over outlet nozzle lowers high outlet
velocity.
AREA OF SLOTS3X
PIPE CROSS SECTION
AREA. CHECK
VELOCITY INTO SLOT
AREA 1/sec.

Figure 6c. Slotted pipe vortex breaker.

90

The Pump Handbook Series